The following statement was issued today by the Spokesman for UN Secretary-General António Guterres:

The Secretary-General welcomes the meeting between the Foreign Minister of Azerbaijan, Elmar Mammadyarov, and the Acting Foreign Minister of Armenia, Zohrab Mnatsakanyan, held on 16 January in Paris under the auspices of the Co-Chairs of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) Minsk Group.

Stockpiles of excess, poorly-secured, or otherwise at-risk conventional weapons continue to pose a challenge to peace and prosperity worldwide. In the wrong hands, SA/LW fuel political instability and violence, while more advanced conventional weapons, such as MANPADS, pose a serious threat to international security. Aging munitions stockpiles may also explode without warning, devastating nearby population centers. Meanwhile, landmines and ERW, including cluster munition remnants, artillery shells, and mortars, continue to kill and maim people even after conflicts end.

This overview document presents 145 safety, security and access incidents affecting aid delivery in 18 countries in Europe between January 2017 and June 2018. The report is based on incidents identified in open sources and reported by Aid in Danger partner agencies using the Security in Numbers Database (SiND). The focus is on countries where possible changing or emerging risks can be identified. The total number of reported incidents below reflects the willingness of agencies to share information. It is neither a complete count nor representative.

Azerbaijan controls information released from Nagorno-Karabakh while preventing civil society organisations, journalists and political figures from entering the disputed enclave. Important events and situations are kept out of the public eye, resulting in a lack of factfinding reports and humanitarian updates from the region.

According to the findings from the Baseline report, across the ten provinces assessed, the Baseline 2 recorded presence of 195,849 migrants, 14 per cent less than the 229,419 recorded in the Baseline 1. Migrants and refugees tend to move to the areas with a higher presence of migrants mainly related to the provision of humanitarian/government services. Some of the information, revelaed a phenomenon of seasonal migration.

The landslide zones in Azerbaijan occur mainly in the southern and north-eastern slopes of the Greater Caucasus, in the north-eastern part of the Lesser Caucasus, in the lower and middle parts of the Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic and the Talish Mountains, in large river basins.

The landslide has been developed from 400-500 meters above sea level to the upper part of the middle hill and along the Caspian Sea.

Eastern Europe and Central Asia is one of only two regions where overall HIV prevalence has not declined in recent years. The 19,000 new HIV infections among people aged 15–24 in 2017 was only about 9 per cent smaller than the 2010 figure, as opposed to other regions where reductions up to 25 per cent have been observed. Adolescents’ vulnerability is also signalled by a region-wide ART coverage rate of just 37 per cent among all people living with HIV over the age of 14, a rate far below the global one of 59 per cent.

With an impressive development progress over the past two decades, the countries of the Europe and Central Asia region (ECA) are primed for significant economic and social growth. Climate change, however, threatens to undermine decades of development gains and put at risk efforts to eradicate poverty. Tackling climate change must be central to efforts to reduce poverty and sustain development.

YEREVAN / BAKU, November 2, 2018 - The Co-Chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group (Igor Popov of the Russian Federation, Stéphane Visconti of France, and Andrew Schofer of the United States of America), together with the Personal Representative of the OSCE Chairperson-in-Office Andrzej Kasprzyk, visited the region from 29 October to 2 November.

This overview document presents 114 security incidents affecting aid delivery in 16 countries in Europe between January 2017 and March 2018. The report is based on incidents identified in open sources and reported by Aid in Danger partner agencies using the Security in Numbers Database (SiND).